Jayne

People want to see those productions (Mary Poppins, Guys & Dolls, etc) and I see no reason why the KC should not bring that form of musical theatre art into its buildings. Note that they are not supporting a full time musical theatre company at the expense of Farrell's troupe. KC has a broad mandate, after all.

all it takes is money.

I watched last night's episode and what bothered me most was not the dancing - but the judging numbers given out. Fairly awful dancing given the same 7 or 8 as superior technical dancing. Usually the milk separates from the creme during the next few weeks, so we'll see. Here is my recap, from best to worst: JR Martinez / Karina Smirnoff: Wowed us with an amazing samba to Miami Sound Machine's "Conga", Karina really did look like Gloria Estafan out there. I think they're in for the win. Karina may finally get her mirror ball trophy this year, as long as JR doesn't plateau, and she goes for a technically strong (rather than trickster) show-dance finale. Rikki Lake / Derek Hough: first off, I agree that she's the show "ringer". Def has some past skills to rely upon. This week wasn't good, but I blame it squarely on the choreo (Derek's responsibility). Interrupting the dance for 80's moves every 10 bars of music was awful. Better to do all the 80's moves at the start, and then move into a continuous fox trot. Easy Lover by Phil Collins is a guilty pleasure song and kinda-worked for the dance. But still, they can do much better. David Arquette / Kym Johnson: I'm a fan of the actor, he's turned in some great performances. I think in real life, he may be on the Asperger's scale, based on his odd sentence sequencing and the way he freaks out when out on the dance floor surrounded by large groups of people. Kym is so patient and upbeat, a good personality match for him. As a performer, I respect that he puts his whole heart into it and truly does win over the audiences. There have been some bad music matches for tango (last week's movie theme Flash Gordon was atrocious). But Tainted Love really worked as a tango, and I thought David was a decent leading man (important in a tango). Improving every week, I think he's a contender for the finale, but will go up against Rob Kardashian for the 3rd spot. Rob Kardashian / Cheryl Burke: I think the rabid following of the Kardashian juggernaut on twitter, combined with Cheryl's own following are keeping their votes high. But Rob turned in a contained rhumba (he's surprisingly light on his feet). My eyes are burning from all the neon eminating from my TV. Rob could be a surprise candidate for the finals if he continues his improvement at the present rate. Nancy Grace / Tristan MacManus: I think the costume department took revenge on her last week for her anti-Amanda Knox comments. She was sporting a Demi Moore black bike shorts with opening skirt type look. This week it's awful 80's music / costumes, and yet an improvement for Nancy. A nice rumba for a wedding demo of a nephew and his right wing super judgmental auntie. Pretty smooth, and I say that grudgingly as I loathe her and her cable show. Chaz Bono / Lacey Schwimmer: I lurvvvvv Lacey's dad, but Chaz's moves are really simple and based on performance alone, he should be in the bottom. But he has captured the hearts of the audience, so I think he may go far, but maybe not the finals. having Mama-Cher at last week's performance probably increased ratings for her followers (and subsequent Chaz voters). Hope Solo / Maxim Cherminovsky - this week their tango needed the delicate / strength / sexy interplay. Instead Max just pulled Hope around the ballroom and hoped her full skirt would hide her poor footwork. They received straight 8's - they deserved 5's and 6's. The lack of practice time is beginning to show, as other dancers excel. Carson Kressley / Anna Tribunskaya - Love the showmanship, adore the humor, think he'll make it pretty far to keep the entertainment value up in the show. But his dancing has plateaued at the rank-beginner stage, while others are racing forward. They received 19 points total. About right. Kinda hoping he makes it to the semi finals, just for the laughs he brings to the show. Kinda hoping Nancy or Hope gets the low votes tonight. JMTC. Quote of the night? "No one likes funk, like I do. I was a funkateer. I'm up for the funk!" -Len Goodman

yum! Like eating a box of gourmet chocolate truffles. !Delicioso!

good for stability of RDB after the revolving door of directors. Just don't let Daisy design any more sets!

sorry, double post (argh!)

Just watching the promo, the camera angle on the Rubies duo during the hyper extended stretch was rather vulgar. I prefer less stretch, and more flirting.

This is a very interesting video with the RB costume mistress. The interview with the soloist delved into the pragmatic needs of a dancer (stretch, ability to fully extend, comfort, etc). I never really thought about the rubies jewels banging into each other on stage (the skirt), but it's a fun to imagine standing in the wings, listening to the "clack clack" of all those skirts. For the men, velvet doublets with glass jewels must be hot for dancing.

PNB has done Red Angels a number of times, and Grand Rapids Ballet has it in their 2012 season. I think NYCB should do some sort of populist rep in each season, where season ticket holders get to nominate programs and say why on their website, and then hold a vote among season ticket holders. JMTC.

info is listed in this link: http://pickfordcinema.org/page/Opera-Ballet-More.aspx

for a while, my book club was trying to read a book from Nobel, Pulitzer and Booker prize winners, but we all felt so depressed and had to shift gears to lighter fare. Still, it's nice to see a poet win the Nobel for literature, as it's been 15 years. I'm expecting a middle eastern winner for the Peace prize, due to the Arab Spring. However, nominations are due in February, with the announcement in October. So I anticipate one of the early Arab Spring countries to produce a winner, perhaps Tunisia.

Regarding Nancy Grace, I'm completely opposed to her judgmental character assassinations. However, she is receiving good feedback for her dancing, and I credit her for working hard for her Irish charmer partner, Tristan MacManus, who by all accounts is teaching her great technical building blocks of ballroom dancing - unlike some of the others. I think it shows in the judges' praise of her basics. My mother complains to me that she cannot understand a single thing Mr. MacManus says, at first she thought he was speaking with a Russian accent. Apparently Irish charm doesn't work on my mother. I, however, think he's adorable and an excellent addition to the show. They need to bring Edyta Slivinska back, and give her a celebrity with good potential, to allow all the straight men to watch with a good excuse.

What was the Oliver Wendell Holmes quote about "knowing art when I see it"? The other one is "there's no accounting for taste". For me, Polyphonia wasn't my favorite. Yes, I "got" all the comedic references, and my pepto bismol comment was meant to be sardonic. Regarding Laura Gilbraith's acting, I've seen her in several performances take to the stage looking like a deer in headlights, particularly as Myrtha last season, but also in a Balanchine pas de deux where she should have had the ice princess serenity on her face. Perhaps her comedic talent is developing faster than her dramatic abilities. I think the Balanchine baby companies may suffer the same lack of opportunities to regularly develop and perform dramatic roles, because Balanchine really calls for the "tall glass of water" women without the subtle acting skills required at a more classical company. Just look at the reviews of NYCB's recent Swan Lake. To each his/her own.

I can completely sympathize. I was in BsAs last year in November/December and had tickets to all sorts of productions at Teatro Colon - all of which were cancelled last minute due to wildcat strikes by the theatre workers' unions (stage hands, ushers, etc). Apparently they were not paid full salaries during the renovation of Teatro Colon (of course, they didn't do any work during that time), and refused to work until they received full back pay.

Quick and dirty review: Saw the Saturday night show, definitely the "A" cast. Carousel impressed me more with the second viewing, and since I was in the balcony this time, the patterns were much clearer. I really like the inventiveness in the choreography. There was some awkward laughter during After the Rain, but by the end, everyone was captivated. Polyphonia went on and on and on. I kept thinking "please edit this down to four parts". It was definitely Aton-esque with some 4T's thrown in there. I didn't think it was the masterpiece others have raved about. Variations Serieuses was fun to watch, but it wasn't laugh-a-minute the way The Concert is funny. I think my eyeballs are burning from the pepto bismol pink tights worn by the cast. I did enjoy Laura Gilbraith's acting much more in this comedy than other things she has done. So perhaps she is growing as an acting artist. off to bed.

This is a chicken / egg scenario. Little boys and girls of African heritage are not really encouraged by friends and family to aspire to careers in ballet. They might be encouraged to aspire to careers in modern dance, or broadway musicals. The friends and family can't see ballet as a viable career path because there are few examples. I don't think most audiences care about the skin tone, as long as the dancing / acting is excellent. But many artistic directors have the influence of whoever trained them, regarding what a swan is "supposed" to look like, etc. I think the AD's are the biggest challenge from an organizational POV. And working with families to create support systems for non-traditional dancers is the biggest challenge from a talent pool POV.

New book out in hard cover, the author followed PNB for a year (in 2008?) and his book covering the inner workings of the company is being published this week. http://wheresnowflakesdanceandswear.com/ A review is posted here http://www.classacttutu.com/blog/review-where-snowflakes-dance-and-swear-inside-the-land-of-ballet.html I am going to order from Amazon tomorrow and will post a review after I've read it. You can read the prologue, first 4 chapters, and 2 later chapters here: http://wheresnowflakesdanceandswear.com/what-is-ballet/read-the-beginning

I am looking forward to seeing Leslie in Ratmansky's DonQ in February (please stay healthy).

quite late, will expand on this tomorrow... Carson was appalling, and yet captivating to watch (I laughed aloud throughout at his chuzpah). Rather hoping he sticks around for the comedy. Anna Tribunskaya (sp?) is a good match, the straight "man" to his comedy. This season it is very obvious which performers have previous "live" performance experience, and which do not (reality stars, etc). Artest was simply vulgar. Hoping he goes home quickly. I like all 3 of the new professionals. I guess they didn't want to pay Editha a high returning pro salary, but I do think she brought in extra male audience with her dental floss costumes. Glad to have Derek Hough back in the fold. Maybe Maxim will win it all this year with Hope Solo? I think for the first dance, the Viennese Waltz is more difficult for the men than the women competitors, because the men are supposed to lead, while the women can simply follow the partner as he sweeps them around the ballroom. A "bravo" to the orchestra, conductor and singers, who truly perform the widest variety of music imaginable, from rap to classical music to disco to R&B to Country to torch songs. Bravissimo! The new stage / set looks amazing. Wish I could be there in person for one episode just to experience it. I've sated my guilty pleasure cravings for the night, will go back to intellectual requirements tomorrow at work, and then return to brain candy for the Tuesday night show.

In defense of Francia Russell, her dance career was cut short due to injury. Mr. B then made her ballet mistress. She held this position during some of Mr. B's most extraordinary years of choreography, and I think her opinions are very valuable and unique. When PNB first performed in NYC about 15 years ago, the common thread in reviews was that the company looked like NYCB used to look in the mid 1960's. I think this is because Francia staged works based on her employment at NYCB during the 1960's as ballet mistress. Who are we as fans to decide who is "important" or "unimportant" to make interesting contributions to the library of Balanchine books? Are only the dancers who attained the title "principle" worthy? How can we really judge who witnessed the most fascinating parts of making Mr. B's ballets? I think the ballet masters / mistresses were the original audiences to the creation of many of these ballets and have interesting things to say.

If the change-over happens in 2012, then perhaps Wheeldon has freedom in his schedule through 2011?

I pick one guilty pleasure show per season. This summer it's Project Runway, this fall it will be Dancing with the Stars. Kressley always gives great TV, so I think he will be fun to watch. Hoping that Hope Solo is paired with a certain fiesty Ukrainian, who always does well with female athletes but the fireworks will singe them both! The rest of the cast looks pretty boring, but hopefully they will surprise me.

This facebook screen grab collection might have been inspired by the book: http://www.happyplace.com/3645/the-best-obnoxious-responses-to-misspellings-on-facebook Have a good belly laugh!

LA Weekly has an article on the high rate of turnover at LAB. http://www.laweekly.com/2011-08-11/art-books/l-a-ballet-dancer-turnover/ By arts journalism standards, this article delves deaper than most into an organization. There have been comments below other articles in the LA Times about poor treatment of dancers, but nothing with names attached. For this article, I did post a comment below. Can anyone speak to normal turnover at a fledgling company? Length of contract? Culture within the organization? Terminating people by email may be SOP for Radio Shack, but for a ballet company?

I'm not sure how they will discover new wonderful choreographers, if they fail to offer anyoneeir a chance? On the other hand, considering the state of the economy, they should program winners for their entire season, and separate "new works" into a smaller, cheaper venue. Perhaps a "new works" festival? Or a "new works" residency for MOVES at a festival such as Vail, Jacobs Pillow, Spoleto, etc? Perhaps NYCB should limit their outside works to "proven" works from Jiri Kilian, etc? But then don't they look like everyone else around the country? Everyone else seems to do the Chinese menu approach: A little of this modern, a little of that restoration, a little of this Balanchine, a little of that Romantic story ballet.